Lawrence, Samuel Adams (1775–1851)

1775–1851

Parents: David Lawrence (1737–1809) and Sybil Sterry (1742–1775)
Spouse: Catherine Remsen (1786–1867)
Children: Samuel Sterry Lawrence (1804–1876), Catherine Remsen Lawrence (1805–1875), Ferdinand Lawrence (1807–1893), John R. Lawrence (1807), Julia Lawrence (1809–1873), Henry Lawrence (1810–1879), John Remsen Lawrence II (1811–1834), Horace Lawrence (1814–1851), Charles David Lawrence (1817–1852), Maria Varick Lawrence (1819–1903), Eugene Lawrence (1823–1894)
Kinship: Second cousin six times removed of the post-World War II Smith generation

Career Although he initially studied medicine, Samuel Adams Lawrence changed career paths. In The New York of Yesterday (1908), historian Hopper Striker Mott wrote, “He became an extensive importing and commission merchant, widely known and highly respected at home and abroad.” He was a partner in Augustine H. Lawrence & Co. and a director of several corporations and institutions.

Residences and Social Life The Lawrences had a summer home in the Bloomingdale section of Manhattan on the upper west side of the island. Frequent guests included his close friend De Witt Clinton.

Philanthropy Lawrence used his significant fortune for various causes. Hopper Striker Mott noted, “Ever ready with his means and efforts to ameliorate the condition of the poor, he was also a strong advocate of the cause of education as well as a munificent patron of the arts and sciences.”

Death Samuel Adams Lawrence died in his West 19th Street house.